Recently, there has been a great deal of work by those discussing political agency and organization on the decline of the nation-state and its displacement by non-state and sub-state actors. Writers on the left, from David Harvey looking at the global city to Hardt and Negri working on political mobilization to the American Studies scholar John Carlos Rowe looking at "post-Nationalism" see the nation state as, increasingly, one factor among many rather than as the central factor in political and economic organization. This change in the role of the nation-state, it is argued, is also leading to a change in the nature of political organization.

For the eighth annual issue of Florida English, the editors invite submissions dealing with the theme: Italian-Americana. Ideas for critical articles might include individual literary works by Italian-American authors or directors, films, etc, and the influence of these in shaping genres or the identities of the country at large, communities, or individuals. One might consider the issues of immigration, assimilation, tradition or the loss of tradition, religion, or food.

In addition, Florida English is also looking for original pieces of fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction that are rooted in Italian-Americana or explore any facet thereof (see ideas above).

Charles Olson's work gathers a vast range of sources that influenced his thought and poetry. Major influences on his work include Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, Melville, Carl Sauer, Jung, Hesiod, Alfred North Whitehead, Herman Weyl, and many others. Influences also include methods, concepts, and disciplines such as archeology, dance, projective geometry, and serial music. Olson's work in turn influenced a number of poets, including Creeley, Duncan, Susan Howe, and others often overlooked in discussions of Olson, such as Rosemarie Waldrop and Amy Clampitt. Papers on these types of influence and the work of Olson are welcome.

Since the 1960s, Asian American Literature has received recognition from works by women writers, such as Maxine Hong Kingston and Amy Tan. A considerable amount of Asian American novels deals primarily with the mother-daughter relationship. However, the tradition of matrilineal narrative somehow overlooks the image of the Asian father. In most of the works by women authors, the "Father" is either a ghostly presence or a symbolic absence. His silence and suffering have insufficiently explored. Given that Asian males are also racial minority, their struggle with cultural emasculation in a predominantly Anglo-based society and their melancholia and silence have been under-represented.

"Writing Our Hope" is a bi-annual literary journal of creative nonfiction and poetry that publishes student work on themes of tolerance and equality. Submitted works should have a hopeful tone, focusing on solutions and possibilities in the present and future, rather than only a description or cataloguing of injustices in the past or present. In its first two years, "Writing Our Hope" has published the work of high school students, but it is now expanding to include works by college undergraduates, ages 17-24, and their professors.

Children's Film and Literature: A One-Day Conference. Hosted by the Centre for Adaptations, De Montfort University, Leicester. Monday March 1st, 2010.

In March 2010, the Centre for Adaptations will be running a one day event bringing together a range of scholars interested in the relationship between children, film and literature across the twentieth century.

We are particularly interested in papers which explore:

• Screen adaptations of children's literature. • Children's film as a distinct commercial or critical category. • The status of child readers and viewers. • The image of the child in film and literature.

San Antonio. Images of the River Walk merge with the memories of its most famous location, the Alamo. Remember it, the voices from the past call out, and we do.

Those voices on opposing sides of its walls, representing Santa Anna and Sam Houston, spoke for two distinctly diverse cultures. And within those cultures were voices and texts that influenced the actions during that struggle – significant cultural markers of time, place, and being.

UC Santa Barbara Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Music (CISM)

The UCSB Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Music (CISM) is seeking submissions for the 2010 Music and the Written Word Graduate Conference to be held at the University of California, Santa Barbara, on 16-17 January 2010. Run by and geared towards graduate students, this interdisciplinary conference will focus on music, the written word, and their convergence. We welcome submissions covering the full spectrum of methodologies, disciplinary approaches, and all genres of music.

The Federation Rhetoric Symposium will provide an opportunity for a diverse group of scholars to investigate how today's rhetors continue to use the wisdom of Sophistic, Classical, and Medieval rhetors who debated the validity of rhetoric, Renaissance and Modern rhetors who helped this art transition into a fully developed written tradition, and the contemporary debate about the validity of digital rhetoric.

The journal "Jura Gentium Cinema" (www.jgcinema.org) is seeking reviews (between 5000 and 10000 words) for the following movies:

1) "Amreeka" by Cherien Dabis (AKA "Amerrika" (Fr)). Muna (Nisreen Faour), a divorced Palestinian woman, leaves the West Bank with Fadi (Melkar Muallem), her teenaged sun, to the city of Illinois. Both mother and son hope to start a new life in America but go through a difficult transition. Fadi must adapt to the hallways and classrooms of his new high school. And Muna must keep up with the pace cooking hamburgers at a local White Castle.

Deadline for papers (via email by attachment) is 18 December 2009. The cost of the Conference will be 25 GBP.

Papers covering any aspect of Shakespeare studies are welcome, including those that focus on textual, dramatic or historical topics. Papers relating to Shakespeare's era are invited. Proposals regarding the authorship question will not be accepted.

Submissions are invited for publication in "Re-imagining Africa: Creative Crossings" edited by Simon Gikandi (sgikandi@Princeton.EDU) and Jane Wilkinson (fjwilkinson@alice.it). In its first issue devoted specifically to Africa, Anglistica opens to creative writing and artworks. The issue will include words, sounds and images by African artists, alongside interviews, theory and criticism. Deadline for completed articles: 28 February 2010.